GRAND ENTRANCE
Quite a bit of time is spent when looking for the perfect venue to host a special event such as our dream wedding or family reunion. We explore neighborhoods and look into school districts in the hopes of finding that perfect neighborhood that we would like to call home.
Doesn't it make sense that we invest as much time and energy into researching where our precious babies will make their grand entrance into this world?
Choose a birthing facility that has received the prestigious honor of being recognized as being a Baby-Friendly Facility.
The Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative (BFHI) is an international program of the World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF). The Initiative celebrates hospitals and birth centers that have put in place policies and practices to enable parents to make informed choices about how they feed and care for their babies. Hospitals and birth centers that have implemented the Ten Steps create an optimal environment for the initiation of breastfeeding.
The Ten Steps to Successful Breastfeeding are:
1. Have a written breastfeeding policy that is routinely communicated to all health care staff.
2. Train all health care staff in skills necessary to implement this policy.
3. Inform all pregnant women about the benefits and management of breastfeeding.
4. Help mothers initiate breastfeeding within an hour of birth.
5. Show mothers how to breastfeed and how to maintain lactation, even if they should be separated from their infants.
6. Give newborn infants no food or drink other than breast milk, unless medically indicated.
7. Practice "rooming in" by allowing mothers and infants to remain together 24 hours a day.
8. Encourage breastfeeding on demand.
9. Give no artificial nipples, pacifiers, dummies, or soothers to breastfeeding infants.
10. Foster the establishment of breastfeeding support groups and refer mothers to them on discharge from the hospital or birthing center.
Baby-Friendly USA, Inc. envisions an American culture that values the enduring benefits of breastfeeding and human milk for mothers, babies, and society.
